This entry isn’t going to be about my kids, like I promised (sorry, Michelle). Instead, it’s going to be a really short one on generosity.
I have about 30 persimmons (or “kaki” in Japanese–they’re in season in southern Japan, if you didn’t know) sitting around my kitchen, courtesy of one of my eikaiwa students, one of the women in the board of education, my landlord (I think–I came back from class one day to find a plastic bag hanging from my doorknob with kaki inside), and a woman who I’ve only seen in passing because her house is situated on a slope overlooking the bus stop where I am 3 afternoons a week (though she went all the way up to her house and back down just to give me a bag of kaki).
Aimee, a longtime online friend–almost 9 years’ worth of on-and-off correspondence, in fact–just offered today, out of the blue, to mail me her extra winter and long-sleeve clothes that she no longer needs because she isn’t living in a frigid area anymore and she bought too much to begin with, even before finding out that we do in fact wear the same shirt size. And she’s offering to do it completely for free, asking only for Hello Kitty earrings or Japanese rocks (she studied geology) and pictures of the Yoshinogawa fault line.
I gave Terry back home a call tonight (well, two, because my modem cut off in the middle) and she’s definitely coming to Japan to visit at some point next year. She even has a backup lined up in case our friend Ryan can’t come–her friend Della, who I’ve met and who’s a total sweetheart. I love having this internet phone–I just hope the calls are as cheap as they’ve been marketed to be and that I won’t have a nasty surprise waiting for me (to balance out the pleasant surprise my cellphone bill will be, due to an utter lack of use and the upgrading of my plan).
I don’t know what I did to deserve such warmth and generosity in my life, but I just hope I keep doing it.
Good night, everyone. I love you all.